One white Zara tee is leading to a lot of red faces

Spanish retailer Zara is dealing with backlash over its “White is the new black” slogan tee, which many are viewing as racist and insensitive. The controversial T-shirt sports black block letters over white fabric.

It’s a possibility the swanky international brand was attempting to model what they thought was a clever play on words in reference to the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black, but that remains unclear — Zara has yet to comment on the controversial apparel.

In the midst of the investigation of Michael Brown‘s death, which spurred violent protests in Ferguson, Mo. last week and has reopened discussions about racism, some fashionistas are taking to Twitter to vent about the not-so-chic tee and how the timing of Zara’s get-up uproar has seemed to hit rock bottom.

Zara should’ve known this wouldn’t go down well, even if they were where just trying to be quirky with colours pic.twitter.com/L0hdcaf9p8

“I think the designer didn’t intend to speak on race … While people may infuse their own experiences, and that’s understandable, they (Zara) have no need to apologize for a transgression they didn’t intend to commit,” he says. “Sure, it may have been silly, but that was likely due to a language barrier.”

Tweeters echo Keyes’ sentiments.

Thats clearly not what Zara means by “White is the New Black”. Stop making everything a race issue. Smh